This invention relates to a cartridge for a bagging machine. More particularly, this invention relates to a cartridge for replenishing a tube of material to a bagging machine for packaging particulate material.
Heretofore, various types of filling or bagging machines have been used for filling bags with particulate materials, such as foamed plastic packing elements. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,035,606 describes a filling machine in which a bag is suspended within an opening of a conveyor. As the conveyor moves the bag past various stations, air is blown into the bag to open the bag, a flow of particulate material is then delivered into the bag and the bag is thereafter closed at an upper end while still suspended from the conveyor.
Bagging machines of the above type require manual placement of a bag on the conveyor. As a result, there is a risk that a bag may be damaged when initially placed on the conveyor. Further, a relatively long time is required in order to place a series of empty bags on the conveyor for filling.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to reduce the time required to fill bags with particulate material.
It is another object of the invention to be able to fill a series of bags with particulate material in an efficient manner.
It is another object of the invention to reduce the time required for filling a series of plastic bags with loose fill materials.
Briefly, the invention provides a cartridge that can be mounted on the chute of a bagging machine and that is able to dispense a continuous stream of tube for the making and filling of several bags.
In accordance with the invention, the cartridge includes a hollow mandrel that can be mounted in suspended relation from a chute of a bagging machine for passage of a flow of material from the bagging machine. In addition, the cartridge has a collapsed tube of material, such as a tube of plastic film, disposed on the mandrel for dispensing therefrom to form a plurality of bags for sequentially receiving the material dispensed through the mandrel.
The mandrel includes a means at one end for securement to a chute of a bagging machine. In one embodiment, this means is in the form of a radially outwardly directed collar for engagement with a flange or the like on the chute. In another embodiment, this means is in the form of a pair of L-shaped slots in the end of the mandrel for receiving a pair of outwardly projecting pins on the chute in a bayonet type connection.
The mandrel also has means at each end for holding the collapsed tube of material on the mandrel. In one embodiment, a collar at the end of the mandrel serves to secure the mandrel to a chute while also serving to hold the collapsed tube inplace. In another embodiment, a bar is removably mounted in one end of the mandrel with the ends of the bar projecting from the mandrel in order to maintain the collapsed tube of material on the mandrel at that end.
In accordance with the invention, in order to place a plastic tube on the mandrel, the mandrel is mounted with the collar end down. A means is then provided for delivering a continuous tube of plastic film onto the mandrel and against the collar in a collapsed state. In this respect, the means for delivering the tube may be of any suitable construction. Typically, this means delivers a plastic tube having an inside diameter which is greater than the outside diameter of the mandrel so that the delivered tube is xe2x80x9cshuffledxe2x80x9d onto the mandrel to take on a collapsed condition. In this way, a length of tubing may be disposed on the mandrel which is a multiple of the length of the mandrel. For example, for a mandrel having a length of 48 inches and an outside diameter of 16 inches, a 600 foot length of plastic tube of 1.5 mil. thickness and 24 inches inside diameter may be disposed on the mandrel. This length of plastic tube may be used to fill about 100 bags of material. Typically, the tube has a length at least 100 times the length of the mandrel.
After the plastic tube has been shuffled onto the mandrel, the bar is slidably mounted in the now upper end of the mandrel in order to maintain the plastic film on the mandrel for transport purposes.
When the mandrel is to be coupled to a chute of a bagging machine, the mandrel is inverted so that the collar end faces the chute. After coupling of the mandrel to the chute via the collar, the plastic tube is maintained in place by the projecting ends of the bar. In accordance with invention, the bar is provided with curved ends and is rotatable in the mandrel between a first position with the curved ends facing towards the collar to maintain a collapsed tube on the mandrel and a second position with the curved ends facing in the opposite direction to cause spreading of the tube during movement of the tube over the bar and off the mandrel. That is to say, after the mandrel has been mounted in place, the bar is rotated so that the curved ends face downwardly. An operator may then initiate movement of the tube off the mandrel by pulling the open end of the tube downwardly over the bar that then acts as a spreader bar to spread the bag towards a flattened condition for purposes of sealing.
After the bag has been pulled from the mandrel, the bag is moved into a means for forming a series of spaced apart transverse seals in the tube to define a series of closed bags of the material dispatched through the mandrel. For example, use may be made of a heat sealing means to form a seal across of the tube.
In the embodiment where the mandrel is without a collar at the end, the tube is shuffled onto the mandrel from either end. Any suitable means, such as a tape, may be used to hold the respective ends of the tube in place for transport. For example, the forward end of the tube may be held on one end of the mandrel by an adhesive tape. After shuffling the tube onto the mandrel, the trailing end is held on by a second adhesive tape. Such a cartridge may then be shipped or transported to a user as a cylindrical unit. When the mandrel is subsequently mounted on a chute of a bagging machine, the user would insert a bar, as described above, through a pair of diametrically opposed openings in the lower end of the mandrel and the tape at that end would be removed to free the tube for removal. The tube would then be removed from the mandrel as described above.
The cartridge provides a plastic tube to the bagging machine that is sufficient to make and fill a multitude of bags with loose fill material. For example, when the plastic tube is first pulled from the mandrel, a heat sealing means forms a seal across the bag. Thereafter, a charge of loose fill material is discharged from the chute through the mandrel and into the plastic tube. Next, the sealing means forms a transverse seal across the tube above the level of the loose fill material thereby closing a xe2x80x9cbagxe2x80x9d. At the same time, the heat sealing means forms the bottom of the next xe2x80x9cbagxe2x80x9d. A suitable severing means is also provided to cut the tube within a seal or between two adjacent seals so that the lowermost xe2x80x9cbagxe2x80x9d may be deposited onto a conveyor or other transport means for conveying the closed bag away from the bagging machine.
The bagging machine is thus able to fill several bags until the plastic tube on the cartridge has been exhausted. At that time, a fresh cartridge may then be put into place on the bagging machine to form another series of filled bags of loose fill material.
Continued pulling of the collapsed tube from the mandrel occurs either manually or automatically using any suitable type of pulling means, for example, using the heat sealing means or another means located at or near the heat sealing means. For example, where the heat sealing means is used to pull the plastic tube from the cartridge, after the heat sealing means first engages the tube to form a transverse seal across the tube, the heat sealing means moves downwardly thereby pulling the tube along as a charge of loose fill material is dispensed into the bag. Upon reaching a lowermost position, the heat sealing means disengages from the tube and moves out of the path of the now filled tube. At this time, the tube ceases to unravel from the mandrel. The heat sealing means then moves to an uppermost position and re-engages the tube to form a seal to close off the top of the xe2x80x9cbagxe2x80x9d and to again pull the tube off the mandrel.
The projecting ends of the bar on the cartridge serve as a means to spread the otherwise cylindrically shaped tube towards a flattened shaped to facilitate engagement by the heat sealing means to form the transverse seals across the tube. The projecting ends of the bar also brake the movement of the collapsed tube from the mandrel so that the tube does not simply unravel under its own weight or a manually or automatically applied pulling force.